Ariana Grande has stirred up debate among fans of Wicked after correcting an often misheard lyric in one of the songs.
The pop musician, 31, is starring in the new film, the first entry in a two-part adaptation of the hit stage musical.
In Wicked, Grande plays Glinda the Good Witch, which serves as a prequel to The Wizard of Oz. Cynthia Erivo (Widows) plays Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.
Ahead of the release of the film, Universal Studios shared a video of Grande’s biggest solo musical number, the song “Popular”.
However, while the video features written lyrics to accompany the singing, Grande flagged a mistranscription in the comments.
Onscreen, the lyric reads: “I’ll teach you the proper poise when you talk to boys.”
However, in the comments, Grande wrote: “It’s ‘ploys’!!!!!!” She then added: “I love you.”
Fans of the musical voiced confusion over the correction, with many unsure as to the correct version of the lyric.
“I just found out in the song ‘Popular’ from Wicked it is ‘proper ploys when u talk to boys’ not ‘proper poise when u talk to boys’ ?????????” one fan wrote on X/Twitter. “Is this a new mandala effect or am i just dumb as hell?”
“The way I thought it was Poise this whole time,” wrote another, alongside a “crying” emoji.
“I saw the original cast and all these years thought it was poise and today learned it was all a lie,” someone else wrote.
Others, however, disagreed with the correction: “Like i’m not a HUGE Wicked fan but i’ve read the lyrics and unless this is photoshopped or they changed it in the movie it’s ABSOLUTELY poise.”
Grande was, unsurprisingly, correct, with various other actors to have played Glinda also chiming in with confirmation.
Jennafer Newberry Peery, who played Glinda on stage, wrote: “Just another Glinda here to say…. proper ploys.” Ginna Claire Mason, who played the character in a touring production, wrote: “The text says poise, but it’s proper ploys.”
Wicked is released in cinemas on 22 November 2024, with the official soundtrack album to be released the same day.
